The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA, /juːˈeɪfə/; French: Union Européenne de Football Association;[4]German: Vereinigung Europäischer Fußballverbände) is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA consists of 55 national association members.

^Israel had been an associated member of UEFA since 1992, therefore Israeli clubs were entitled to take part in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 UEFA club competitions despite Israel not being a full UEFA member.

^Former member of the Asian Football Confederation (1994–2002), joined UEFA.

UEFA runs official international competitions in Europe and some countries of Northern, Southwestern and Central Asia for national teams and professional clubs, known as UEFA competitions, some of which are regarded as the world's most prestigious tournaments.

The top-ranked UEFA competition is the UEFA Champions League, which started in the 1992/93 season and gathers the top 1–4 teams of each country's league (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded); this competition was re-structured from a previous one that only gathered the top team of each country (held from 1955–92 and known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or simply the European Cup).

A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League. This competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (also begun in 1955). A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League) in 1999.

In women's football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Women's Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Women's Cup until 2009.

The UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), and came into being in 1973.[5][6][7]

Only four teams[10][11] (Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Chelsea[12]) have won each of the three main competitions (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, European Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League),[13] a feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently nine teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; all but one have won the Cup Winners' Cup, four require a win in the Champions League and five require a UEFA Europa League win.

UEFA's premier futsal competition is the UEFA Futsal Cup, a tournament started in 2001 which replaced the former Futsal European Clubs Championship. This event, despite enjoying a long and well-established tradition in the European futsal community, dating back to 1984, was never recognized as official by UEFA.

Heineken (excluding France, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey, where alcohol sponsorship is restricted. In France, Switzerland, some parts of Spain and Turkey, the Heineken boarding is replaced by an "Enjoy responsibly" or "open your world" hoarding, and in Kazakhstan and Russia, the Heineken hoarding is replaced by a "Respect" hoarding.[citation needed])

The UEFA Champions League sponsors are also sponsors of the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Women's Champions League and the UEFA Youth League (excluding Heineken, which is replaced by Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer.)

Dissatisfied fans across Europe have referred to the organisation as UEFA mafia, including in Russia’s top league,[26] in Bulgaria’s top league,[27] and in a Champions League group stage match held in Sweden.[28] The term has also been covered for its use outside of stadiums, for example during a protest in Kosovo outside an EU building following the Serbia v Albania (UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying) match.[29]

Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, the current president of UEFA, Michel Platini, was also involved himself in the case. Swiss prosecutors accuse FIFA president Sepp Blatter of making a "disloyal payment" of $2m (£1.6m) to Mr Platini. Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, stated: "We didn't interview Mr Platini as a witness, that's not true. We investigated against him in between as a witness and an accused person".[30][31] Both Platini and Sepp Blatter are currently under formal investigation by FIFA's independent ethics committee.[32] On 8 October 2015, Platini was provisionally suspended for 90 days from any football-related activity.[33]

see Serbia (1930 for Kingdom of Yugoslavia; 1950–1990 for SFR Yugoslavia; 1994–2002 for FR Yugoslavia)

Total

4

12

13

6

12

12

10

10

9

9

10

14

14

14

13

15

15

14

13

13

Notes

^There was no Third Place match in 1930; The United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semifinals. FIFA recognizes the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team using the overall records of the teams in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.

^Austria qualified in 1938, but withdrew to play as part of Germany after being annexed.

^ abcRussia's best result is group stage in 1994 and 2002. However FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.

^There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. Currently, FIFA recognizes USA as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.